Blog Details

ShiftPurple is now working on implementing Oracle Fusion Cloud PPM (Project Portfolio Management) for one of the major operations divisions of a diversified organization headquartered in the UAE, which manages several projects under different contractual and costing scenarios and billing structures.

The implementation combines Project Foundation, Costing, Control, Contracts, Billing and Analytics into a unified project management solution.

Project Overview

• Region: Sharjah
• Industry: Diversified Conglomerate 
• Solution: Oracle Fusion Cloud PPM
• Status: Implementation in Progress

What We’re Implementing

1. One Project Foundation Across the Business

Oracle Fusion Project Foundation is being configured in order to have a consistent structure among projects, including Work Breakdown Structures (WBS), project templates, classification, roles, status, security, multi-currency needs and cross-ledgers.

This will serve as a unified structure for handling various projects using one single environment.

2.Eight Costing Scenarios → One System 

The solution revolves around eight real-world approaches to how costs can accrue to a project:

• Labour
• Expenses for labourers and projects
• Inventory problems
• Expenses of supplier and subcontractor
• Other than labour expenses
• Construction of capital or assets
• In-house efforts
• Cost modifications

The Oracle Project Costing solution integrates all the above-mentioned cost drivers in one integrated project financial model.

3. Forward-Looking Project Control

Oracle Project Control is being introduced to facilitate:

• Budgets and baselines
• Budget vs. actual comparison
• Estimate to Complete (ETC)
• Estimate at completion (EAC)
• Earned value management
• Cost and schedule variances

The intention is to enable project teams to not only comprehend what a project has cost but also its future performance direction.

4. Six Billing Models → One Invoice Engine 

This business is operating on six different business billing types:

• Rate based/T&M 
• Fixed Fee 
• Periodical 
• Milestone 
• Advance 
• Event-based billing 

The Oracle Project Contracts and Project Billing will be configured for interfacing between all the above billing models using a common process from billing creation and review up to approval and invoicing to Accounts Receivable integration.

5. Scenario-Led Design

In contrast to setting up the Oracle components separately, the implementation begins with fourteen real-world examples—eight ways costs come into the project and six ways the customers get invoiced for their services.

The setup proceeds in reverse of these examples. This ensures that any real-world transaction has its route through the system.

6. Process Playback Before Design Confirmation

Process Playback is one of the key components of the delivery methodology.

The configured processes are played back to the business stakeholders in order for them to re-validate the design on a running system as opposed to only on paper or the outcomes of the workshops.

This ensures there is proper validation before implementation is done.

7. Standard-First Reporting & Analytics

The reporting strategy favours Oracle Fusion’s out-of-the-box functionality where possible when it satisfies existing business needs.

Custom reporting is only done in those cases where there is an additional need.

The reporting layer will provide visibility into the following:

• Project finances
• Project costs
• Revenues
• Margins
• Budget vs. Actuals
• Unbilled receivables

8.Historical Data Continuity 

The scope of migration includes:

• Project and WBS structure
• Budgets
• Bills
• Invoices
• Cost history balance
• Billings history balance
• Revenues history balance

This will help maintain project history during the transition of the organization to the new environment and not make people start afresh.

9. Adoption Built Into the Implementation 

This solution comprises:

• Business Process Design
• Technology Deployment
• User Training and Testing
• Business Adoption

Key-user training, User Acceptance Testing (UAT) and post-production hypercare are included in the delivery framework.

This will help the organization to be ready for both the deployment and adoption of the system.

What the Solution Is Designed to Enable 

• One place for all project costs for labour, materials, expenses, subcontracting, capital, and other cost types.
• Budget-to-actual comparison in the project environment.
• Project control through forward-looking budgeting using ETC, EAC, and Earned Value Management.
• Management of six different billing scenarios through one integrated billing process.
• Visibility into project cost, income, margin, and unbilled accounts receivable.
• Construction-in-progress and capital projects management.
• Approval and audit trails in all project finance processes.
• Multi-currency and cross-ledger support built into the solution.
• Historical project cost, billing and revenue continuity through data migration 

The Results

Oracle Fusion Cloud PPM is aimed at providing the following:

• Eight project cost scenarios for unified project costing
• Six commercial models for easier billing process
• More visibility regarding project costs, revenues and margins
• Better budgeting and forecasting as well as better project financial management
• Governance through approval and audit procedures
• Decreased complexity of operations through project process integration
• Continuity through migration of historical project information
• Foundation of Oracle Fusion PPM for further development